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Well, I never heard this one, but having owned a cat, I can take a guess. The cat, before settling down on her owner's stomach, kneaded with her paws. Anyone who has ever had a cat knows they do that all the time. So maybe the author thought it looked like the cat was baking.

The cat's doing what's called "milk treading." Kittens do it when settling down against mama cat for a feed; it stimulates milk letdown. Cats generalize kitten behavior to their people (you are mama cat), so it's affectionate.